Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber is set to make his Broadway debut as “Don” in “Kinky Boots.” He’ll take over the role at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre starting on Monday, Jan. 21, 2019. Barber’s limited run expires on March 3.
The retired NFL player is keeping the role warm for original cast member Daniel Stewart Sherman, who is temporarily on leave to appear in “My Very Own British Invasion” at Paper Mill Playhouse this winter. Sherman will return to the role of “Don” on Monday, March 4, 2019 and stay through the show’s previously announced final performance on Sunday, April 7.
“I am so excited to be making my Broadway debut in ‘Kinky Boots,”‘ Barber said Tuesday in a media release. “I was very fortunate to be part of the New York Giants for 10 years and feel incredibly lucky to be joining another New York institution: Broadway.”
Barber currently serves as co-host of CBS Sports Radio’s national afternoon program, “Tiki & Tierney.” After 10 seasons in the NFL, Barber spent two years at NBC’s “Today” show.
“Kinky Boots,” which won six Tony Awards in 2013, tells the tale of Charlie Price, a young man reluctantly taking over his family’s struggling shoe factory and looking for a fresh idea. Charlie meets and finds inspiration in Lola and together, they discover that it takes a good friend to make a great pair.
The show features a score by Cyndi Lauper, book by Harvey Fierstein and direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell.
See Barber in his “Kinky Boots” character here:
The current Broadway cast of “Kinky Boots” also includes: J. Harrison Ghee (as Lola), Conor Maynard* (Charlie Price), Carrie St. Louis (as Lauren), Caroline Bowman, Marcus Neville, James Delisco Beeks, Callan Bergmann, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Kyle Post, Charlie Sutton, Joey Taranto, Corey Mach, Natalie Joy Johnson, Jennifer Perry, Adinah Alexander, Eugene Barry-Hill, Stephen Berger, Damien Brett, Joshua Buscher, Justin Colombo, Holly Davis, Stephane Duret, Mia Gentile, Blair Goldberg, Cooper Lantz, John Jeffrey Martin, Julia McLellan, Connor Mills, Christian Mullins, Nathan Peck, & Eric Walker, Jr.
The play, which is based on a Miramax film, is produced on Broadway by Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Independent Presenters Network, CJ E&M, Jayne Baron Sherman, Just for Laughs Theatricals/Judith Ann Abrams, Yasuhiro Kawana, Jane Bergere, Allan S. Gordon & Adam S. Gordon, Ken Davenport, Hunter Arnold, Lucy and Phil Suarez, Bryan Bantry, Ron Fierstein and Dorsey Regal, Jim Kierstead/Gregory Rae, BB Group/Christina Papagjika, Michael DeSantis/Patrick Baugh, Brian Smith/Tom and Connie Walsh, Warren Trepp, and Jujamcyn Theaters.
When it closes this spring, “Kinky Boots” will end as the 25th longest-running production in Broadway history, having played 2,507 regular performances and 34 previews.